1956—There was never a time like it before in baseball. . . It was magic.
This First Edition, First Printing Limited Collector Edition of Mickey Mantle’s autobiographical My Favorite Summer 1956 has a remarkable provenance. Hand-signed by Mickey Mantle directly on the deep blue original leather cover, Mantle’s signature is large and pristine, in gold ink. (Mantle has centered his signature in the large, embossed rectangular centerpiece of the front cover, bordered in gold; on other signed copies, he has signed outside and below the rectangular panel.)
This book was personally owned by Mantle; the original Certificate of Authenticity states that it “was one of Mickey Mantle’s personal treasures and came directly from the Mantle Family’s Archive”. A second full Letter of Authenticity, inclusive of a photograph of the book’s signed cover, doubly authenticates the signature.
About the book: My Favorite Summer 1956
Mickey Mantle, like Babe Ruth and Joe DiMaggio before him, was arguably the most beloved player of his time, and in this look back at his greatest year, written by Mantle with New York Daily News sportswriter Phil Pepe, one understands why he was so popular. In 1956 the Yankee centerfielder won the Triple Crown, batting .353 to beat Ted Williams, knocking in 130 runs to beat Al Kaline and hitting 52 home runs to beat everybody.
Mantle won the Most Valuable Player award and figured importantly in the World Series, preserving Don Larsen's perfect game by making a running catch of a deep fly ball off the bat of Gil Hodges. Mantle's overall performance in 1956 was so exceptional that he was bestowed the Hickok Belt (unanimously) as the top American professional athlete of the year. He is also the only player to win a league Triple Crown as a switch hitter.
Mantle writes as well of his notorious escapades with Whitey Ford and Billy Martin and of his special relationship with manager Casey Stengel, but what readers will carry away is the picture of a fierce competitor who is also a warm and generous-hearted human being.
Published by Doubleday, 1991. First Edition, First Printing, "Collector Edition". In excellent condition, with unbroken spine, deep blue leather cover with embossing and gold imprinting, endpapers are created from a photograph of the 1956 Yankees team.